Candle Cove
by A Wolf's Nightmare
Summary: You... have... to... go... inside...
1. You

Humphrey walked through Jasper with a bag of popcorn in his mouth. Right next to him was Kate who also had a bag of popcorn in her mouth. They looked at each other and smiled.

They were heading to Aaron's den. Aaron had made them the popcorn and promised a movie night. It was a nice break from battling monsters or time-traveling to wrong places.

When the two made it to the den they saw Aaron, Saul, Garth, Lilly and Hutch. Garth looked better. He was out and walking even without his eye and ribs bandaged.

"Alright! Alright!" Aaron yelled. Humphrey and Kate sat down. They saw others with candy and popcorn.

"We are watching…. Um…. Hutch what are we watching?"

"The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Hutch answered.

"Ok. If you have to use the bathroom…. Well, too bad." Aaron turned to his television that he owned. Where he got it, no one knows. He just had it for all that they saw Aaron.

The television turned on and went to static. Aaron was confused. The movie was supposed to play instantly. There shouldn't be static.

Saul walked in and smiled. He gasped in joy. He was jumping in joy.

"Saul, why are you so happy?" Garth asked.

"My dad is showing what looks like a great show."

Everyone turned to him. "Saul, nothing is on."

"Yes there is. It's what the other cubs are talking about."

"What are they talking about?" Humphrey asked. Saul then explained.

"Well, they saw a picture of a few pirates and a title."

"What was the…" Hutch was interrupted by Saul's shushing.

"Shh, it's on." Everyone then smiled and laughed a bit.

That boy and his imagination. He could make up anything with his mind and he'll be set.

But something strange happened. Aaron couldn't get the movie to work. Everyone groaned.

They really wanted to watch this movie. Everyone left Aaron's den with their candy and popcorn.

But Saul was still there watching the static. Aaron spoke up.

"Come one Saul, help me shut this off."

"NO!" Saul shouted. "I want to watch my show."

"Saul there's nothing there."

Saul didn't say anything. He kept watching the static. Aaron shrugged.

"At least you stopped biting me." Aaron left Saul alone.

Saul began to sing the theme song to his show.


	2. Have

Aaron watched Saul as he sang the theme song.

"_Far off in the land of Candle Cove_

_Somewhere in a forgotten grove_

_You might just find a treasure trove_

_Of memories from the past."_

Aaron thought this was harmless child imagination, until…

"_Horace lurks in the shadows deep_

_No need to worry 'bout that creep_

_Although the Skin-Taker may leap_

_Ready to grind up your skin"_

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Aaron ran to the television and shut it off.

"I was watching that!"

"What's this about the Skin-taker?" 

"It's just a bad guy on the show. I'm not scared of him if that's what you're thinking."

"To grind your skin? Is this supposed to be a kid's show?"

"Yes." Saul said simply.

Aaron left to talk to Humphrey. Saul stayed behind to turn on the T.V.. Static was seen as he watched.

Saul was brave enough to watch this show by himself. He enjoyed it actually. But something dark was going to happen.

As Aaron walked over to Humphrey's den, he accidentally bumped into another wolf. This wolf was black furred with white spots.

"Sorry for that." Aaron apologized. The wolf looked jittery and uneasy.

Aaron noticed that and spoke up. "You ok?"

The wolf calmed down and shook his head. "I'm fine."

"What's your name?" Aaron asked.

"Emerson…. Emerson Grimes."

"Nice to meet you. Maybe you can help me."

"With what?" He asked as he shifted his eyes back and forth.

"My son is watching a show and… well… all I see him watch is static."

"OH MY GOD! NO! NO!" The wolf screamed at the top of his lungs.

"What's wrong?!" Aaron asked half scared and half worried.

"Nothing…" Grimes said calmly. Aaron was confused by this behavior.

"Come with me…" Grimes told Aaron as he started to walk away.

Aaron reluctantly followed him. He had a bad feeling about this, or his name was Tom… and it's not.

Saul finally finished watching his show and decided to take a nap.

He curled up into a ball and slept. The television was still on with the static. Suddenly, a hand came out of the television… a skeletal hand.


	3. To

As Saul snored, the skeletal hand grew into an arm. Then into a full body. It walked out of the den hunched backed and gave a distinct grinding noise.

Aaron was out with Grimes. He was following him to somewhere untold.

The two were in the deep and treacherous forest. Aaron shoved many branches out of the way. Grimes looked around to see if people were following him.

Something was wrong with this wolf. He seemed out of it. Finally, after several minutes, Grimes showed Aaron his place.

It was an abandoned warehouse. It looked like the same warehouse Aaron was kidnapped.

Grimes opened the door and saw many wolves working on televisions.

Aaron looked around the warehouse and saw that it was falling apart. He then looked at the wolves and saw that something wasn't right.

First thing he noticed was that a cub was working on a television. The second thing was that there was a wolf in a wheelchair.

"What are you guys doing here?" Aaron finally spoke up.

Grimes explained. "We're trying to find the thing that haunts everyone." His eyes twitched and he looked unstable.

"OH GOD! WHAT DID I DO?! I'M A KILLER!" Grimes exclaimed. Everyone looked at him as he had this outbreak.

"Should we help him?" Aaron asked the group. They looked and chuckled a bit.

"You're new here. Let me explain." The wolf in the wheelchair started.

"I'm Walter. You probably are wondering why I'm in a wheelchair. It's simple, a ladder fell on me. Now about Grimes…"

"Get back to work!" Emerson yelled. "We are rolling in ten minutes."

"Rolling what? Are you guys making a T.V. show?" Aaron asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Grimes told him. He then went to a box and pulled out a puppet. This wasn't a normal puppet.

Its head was made up of glass and had strings on its limbs. "This is our show. This is what we do. And the name… Candle cove." 

Aaron kept staring at the marionette and wondered what went this wolf's mind.

Once Grimes turned around and went into another room, Walter spoke up.

"You have to help us….." Aaron saw this as a perfect opportunity to question everything about what was going on.

"Why is like this? Is he ok?"

"No. He's a looney, a maniac! We produce this show called Candle Cove as you heard, and broadcast it onto television. But the only problem is that our show is turned into static when it comes on."

"I have a son who watches it!" Aaron exclaimed. "He said something about the Skin-Taker?"

Everyone stopped dead on their tracks when they heard that name. The cub that was there started to cry uncontrollably.

"I didn't mean to make you cry…." Aaron said apologetically.

"It's not your fault. In here, that name means hell. And Grimes is the co-ruler of that hell."

"Janice here almost died from heatstroke because of this crazed maniac." A wolf pointed at the child who cried before. "Oh, my name is Michal if you were wondering."

Suddenly, Emerson Grimes came out of the room he was in and was smiling wickedly.

"I just finished talking to Percy here…" He held up the puppet to confirm it. "And we agree to change scripts."

"We just changed it a few days ago."

"This is better." He said a gravelly voice. "This one will make you scream in surprise."


	4. Go

The hunched being wandered Jasper and went into the edge of it. This being was none other than the Skin-Taker. A skeleton with a top hat, hunched back, glass eyes that were too big for their sockets and a cape.

The cape that it wore was thick and leathery and had stitches in it. The being known as the Skin-Taker walked around for a bit until he saw something out of the corner of its eye.

He saw a wolf. A normal wolf eating caribou. It went up to it as the wolf ate. It bent down and covered the sun from the wolf. The wolf looked up in terror.

The Skin-Taker then took out a rusty knife. He began to mutilate the wolf. Organs spilling out, the wolf's eyes being ripped out of their head.

The Skin-Taker then did what he did best. He gutted the wolf and skinned him alive. Once he got most of the skin out, he began to devour some of it.

The way he chewed was unnatural. Instead of an up and down motion, he made a side to side motion. He was grinding the bloody and dismembered skin of the now partly alive wolf.

Skin-Taker then finished the wolf off. As he walked away, the grinding noise was still heard. The Skin-Taker had one goal to do.

Aaron watched the group of wolves worked hard on the show. All they did was look over their scripts.

"What's this?" Michal asked. "We enter with everyone….. screaming…"

Grimes didn't speak. He kept pulling out his hair. He had a distinct bald spot now.

"Just follow the script." He said. "This script is what makes the show."

Everyone including Aaron looked at him in shock and disbelief. The group went to the microphones that were placed for recording.

It was at this time that Aaron noticed the set of Candle Cove. There was a background with the picture of the sea.

On the left, he saw more puppets and a ship. On the side of the ship, it simply read "The Laughing Stock".

"Mister?" The cub named Janice spoke to Grimes. "What's the point in screaming?"

He didn't speak to her. He kept talking to himself and eventually….

"Ok, in three, two, one…."

Everyone hesitated but they went on with the show. The group screamed their heads off.

_**Author's note: I usually don't interrupt the story, but if you like to know the tone of their screams and how bad it was click the link. **_

watch?v=qtAxK50boUw

While they screamed, Michal gave a gut wrenching scream that soon became a problem. As he screamed and screamed, he throat became hoarser.

In time he stopped screaming. He fell down to the floor and coughed up blood.

The others were still screaming. Janice was in the corner crying and Aaron was dumbfounded by this. He went over to Michal who was on the floor puking up blood.

"Don't worry. I'll help." He whispered into his ears.

"What's the point?" He gave a gravelly answer. It hurt to talk and blood was pooling in his throat.

With the screaming still going, Grimes smiled sadistically at this. He began to pace back and forth.

Aaron went up to the crying Janice and tried to comfort her.


	5. Inside

Emerson Grimes couldn't take it anymore. He started to destroy the set. Anything he saw he broke.

This was when everyone stopped yelling. They looked over at Grimes. Aaron then thought this was the perfect time for these people to run.

"Everyone run!" Aaron shouted. They made a break for the door but came face to face with the Skin-Taker.

Everyone gasped in horror. He couldn't be alive. He was just a puppet.

Michal was the most terrified. He witnessed in his dreams the Skin-Taker murdering him. Michal couldn't take it anymore.

He went into a drawer and pulled out a gun. Aaron thought he was going to shoot the Skin-Taker. In fact everyone thought he was going to shoot the skeleton.

But unfortunate for them, he went and pointed the gun to his head and fired it. Michal was so desperate.

Grimes looked over and pleaded with the Skin-Taker.

"Did I do well, sir? Have it made it into your heart?" The Skin-Taker said nothing.

Aaron took this time to wind up his vortex manipulator. He then fired a beam to the skeleton and in a matter of seconds; this beast became a regular puppet.

Grimes screamed in pain and agony. Aaron went up to Michal who was still breathing. He said one thing before dying.

"Don't worry, I'm a doctor." Aaron told him.

"No point…" Michal said. He then whispered one thing to Aaron.

"You have… to go….. Inside…." He then dropped dead.

"Everyone out." Aaron told them. Everyone complied, but Walter. He stayed behind and saw Grimes freaking out.

Grimes then went to the tallest part of the warehouse and laughing manically. He walked through the catwalks.

Walter then saw something unexpected. A cord in the shape of a noose dangled below. Grimes had lost his footing and slid into the noose-like cord.

He was being hung alive. Walter didn't know what to do. Aaron came back inside for Walter, but saw the death of Grimes.

He struggled and struggled, but sooner or later, he died.

Aaron and Walter looked up at the dangling body. "Come on. He's probably in a better place."

The two had left the warehouse and no one has ever stepped in there again.


End file.
